Let professionals do the work

THE 14th General Election has signalled that we, the rakyat, have attained the political maturity not to be intimidated by threats or easily bought by inducements, and that we will speak up against what we think is wrong and will use our rights through the ballot box.

Now, we will assess whether the politicians are also mature, politically speaking that is. With all the promises made during the Pakatan Harapan campaign, we are looking forward to a more mature political system with freedom of speech being the pivotal component. How apt that the person who mooted Wawasan 2020 will now (God willing) see through the making of our country to be truly developed, not only in terms of better infrastructure and economy but perhaps, and more importantly, to set the right environment for Malaysians to be more open-minded, more civic-minded, spiritually mature and, definitely, socially sensitive to all fellow Malaysians.

In the process of such development, we hope that there will be little political interfer- ence in our professional lives. Let the professionals do their job and be answerable to fellow professionals and the rakyat. In public higher education, for example, the academics should run academia and not be instructed by politicians as to who we should elect into our top management, either for the post of vice-chancellor or deputy vice-chancellor.

Although some of us are lucky to have good leaders, this important position should be determined by the university board or the university senate (or perhaps an independent commission) and not by the minister, deputy minister or the secretary-general of the ministry. Similarly, the chairmen of university boards should be people who are very familiar with academia rather than retired senior government officers who are not familiar with the workings of academia or who think that they can impose their “bossy” ways of doing things in a university.

Education, including higher education, is an extremely important asset and investment for the nation. Hopefully, the new government will restore the much-needed pride of this institution and provide adequate budgets for us to function properly. We need to reboot our education system to be ready for a more challenging future.

We hope to have an education system that is guided by an educational philosophy that blends science, spirituality and the arts to nurture more holistic talents who will be able to uphold this great moment of political maturity that we displayed on polling day.

We want change in our respective environments. Hopefully, political maturity is also in the agenda of politicians from both sides of the fence – that they are willing to listen to alternative voices and open up to views that are different to theirs. Politicians should now take heed that we need to be respected because we, the rakyat, are watching you!